Many items currently sold in drug stores, hardware stores and grocery stores are marketed in spray containers. Examples of such items include window cleaners, carpet cleaners/spot removers, cleaning products for bathrooms, countertops etc. and weed control products. Typically, such items comprise a bottle which includes a spray head attached thereto. The spray head includes a manual pump which is actuated by the hand of a user to disperse the particular liquid product in a spray or stream form to a desired surface. The fluid connection between the spray head and the bottle containing the liquid is usually facilitated by a feed tube which extends downwardly from the spray head and into the liquid. The feed tube is generally sized so as to extend to a location adjacent the bottom surface of the bottle so that the entire contents of the bottle may be dispersed via the spray head. In operation, the actuation of the manual pump by the user creates a suction in the feed tube thereby drawing liquid thereinto for subsequent dispersion via the spray head.
Though currently known spray containers are generally suitable for purposes of applying a particular liquid to a desired surface, such containers possess certain inherent deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. Foremost of these deficiencies is the requirement that such spray heads be horizontally oriented in order to properly function. In this respect, since the feed tube extends downwardly into the liquid within the bottle, tilting the bottle to its side to facilitate a downward spraying of the liquid from the spray head causes a loss of suction of the liquid into the feed tube thereby preventing the proper operation of the spray container. Thus, due to the construction of currently known spray containers, such containers are generally inoperable when used to apply a spray or stream of liquid in any direction other than a generally horizontal direction. This particular deficiency typically becomes more apparent as the liquid level in the bottle decreases. As will be recognized, the inability to apply a spray or stream in a downward direction creates significant difficulties when using such containers in specific spot applications such as weed removal and the cleaning of and removal of spots from carpets. The present invention alleviates these and other deficiencies associated with prior art spray containers.